Tuesday, February 25, 2014

It is time to check your TpT wish list and do a little shopping! Teachers Pay Teachers is now 3 million teachers strong! Just think, 3 million teachers (sellers and buyers) coming together and sharing current and relevant teaching ideas and materials.

While you are shopping (I know I will be shopping payday Friday!) please check out these fabulous Teaching Blog Round Up shops participating in the sale!

Monday, February 24, 2014

Punxsutawney Phil may have been right this year. I cringe a little each day when I hear Al Roker telling me that there's more snow here & crazy rain there. Really, I just need to take a look at my Insta feed to see how many of your poor teachers are stuck inside with your kids!!

Out here in California, we're experiencing a bit of a drought, so when we had our first rainy day recess a few weeks ago, my kids went wild! They were going crazy because I hadn't prepared them for this new "adventure in the Multi Use Room!

To create the Rainy Day Basket, I printed and laminated all of the games. I added all the necessary tools kids would need. My basket includes dry erase pens, markers {which they NEVER get to use!}, Sharpies, pencils, stamp pads and plain paper. On my next trip to the dollar store, I plan to pick up some of those cheap makeup sponges for the kids to use as erasers. {Although a sweet reader suggested using cut up felt - genius!}

I wanted to create something that was self-contained so that I could simply send the basket to the MUR with the kids and know they wouldn't be a bother to the yard duties! Just sitting there like perfect little angels playing games :) Ha!

This pack is filled with good plain fun! Nothing common core related. Nothing academic. Just some good old fashion fun! If kids can't be running around like lunatics on the playground, let's harness that energy and turn it into something enjoyable!

Remember Cootie Catchers? I used to LOVE making these when I was little {once I finally learned how to do it!} I've included a few pre-made versions in the pack, as well as 2 blank templates for kids to completely make up their own!

Here's a peek at the Physical Fitness Cootie Catcher. The "fortunes" inside ask kids to do 5 jumping jacks, touch their toes and do other simple movements. Gotta get that indoor energy out somehow!

This Cootie Catcher just has some silly questions kids will enjoy answering!

Next up is Stuck in a Puddle! For this game, kids take turns drawing a line from dot-to-dot. The child who closes the square writes their name in the box. Most boxes at the end wins. This is a HUGE crowd pleaser!

I personally love the thumbprint animals I made! The kids dip their fingers in stamp pads, then add features to the prints to make animals. {I am embarrassed to admit how much fun I had while making the posters!}

Who doesn't love Tic Tac Toe? Just laminate this classic and kids can play forever...or at least until the bell rings!

Another age-old favorite is Hangman.

For those kids who love a challenge, I've included two versions of Sudoku. Black and white versions {as well as answer keys!} are included, too!

For the kid who'd like to hangout solo during recess, I've included a few independent activities, too! All that noise, can you blame them for wanting some peace & quiet?

Okay, so I know I said there was NO Common Core included, but kids don't even realize this is math stuff! Both color and black & white versions for this too!

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Happy Saturday to you! Renee here from Fantastic First Grade Froggies. I'm hopping over to revisit a spring freebie from last year. I had great intentions of creating something new, but I am moving to a temporary classroom in 8 days and report cards will also be due in 8 days. So between packing and assessing it just didn't happen.

So here is a freebie from last year, enjoy!

-----Original posted March 18, 2013-----

Spring has definitely sprung here in northern California. I was feeling the need to get something spring hung up. So we went on an impromptu spring walk around school and then brainstormed things we noticed or we know that relate to spring.

After our brainstorm session, I gave them a circle map to fill out. They had to put one word in each circle that reminds them of spring. They were to use this circle map to help them complete a spring writing.

(Click the Spring Is...picture to grab your freebie)

The next day, I pulled out the watercolors and just let them paint what they wanted, as long as it was a spring theme. They loved having a chance to free paint.

This was my favorite. A boy flying a kite.

It was a reminder to me that I need to let them have free paint time more often. Has spring sprung where you live?

Sunday, February 16, 2014

I'm checking in from SE Asia where I have been teaching English, math, and science to grades K-6. The kiddos sure are keeping me on my toes! The language barrier is no joke, but I absolutely adore my kids and love being their teacher.

Okay, so I'm sure you have seen the cute little Boggle bulletin boards floating all around Pinterest, but what I realllllllly love are the Number Boggle boards! They make my math heart so happy!

:)

Similar to the popular Boggle board, this number grid is great for stretching those little minds--

but instead of asking "how many words can you find?"

you'll ask "how many number sentences can you find?!"

I originally got the idea from a conference, but then saw it all over Pinterest!

Katie, from Rock and Teach, was the original pinner (I think!) and has a great post on how she uses Number Boggle in her classroom...except she calls it {Noggle}. I love that!

I used Number Boggle with digits 1-9 with my first through third graders in math club this week! I found out that I was in charge of math club when I walked through the door {be flexible, Erin!}, so Number Boggle literally saved the day!

The idea is to create a grid with numbers 0 through 9 in a random layout.

The students will then use the grid to find as many number sentences as they possibly can!

I simply wrote the numbers on the white board and we played a few rounds together. Then, I gave them each a little square of paper, wrote a new grid on the board, and turned them loose!

My firsties and my third graders were working on totally different levels--and I LOVED that! Also, some of them took a few liberties in connecting the numbers, but I was working with a serious language barrier. Ha!

Ideas for using the Number Boggle board:

1. Bulletin board: kids can answer on sentence strips to be posted by the board.

2. Document camera or over head for a little bit of quiet work time.

3. Individual copies as seat work.

4. Laminated or in a dry erase sleeve with recording sheet for a math station.

5. Anything else you can think of.

:)

SO. MANY. USES.

And y'all, it is so easy to generate!

Differentiation is built in because students will work at their own level,

and it can easily be adapted for older grades/higher-level mathematics!

If you'd like to use an individual paper version, check out these FREEBIES on TpT:

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Hey everyone! It's Angie here from The First Grade Scoop. Things are quite busy here! I don't know what it is, but all these snow days (we've had four... Normally we have ZERO) and holidays (we were off for Lincoln's Birthday yesterday) have me totally off. But warm weather is in the future, so life is good!

I thought I'd share with you a freebie that I use every year with my students.

Your kiddos can use the sorting mat to help sort their hearts by colors (great for reading color words!), then complete the graph. There's also simple addition sentences, using the number of each color of hearts the kids have. Finally, your kiddos can work on making a pattern with the hearts before they gobble them up! (Okay, so I've noticed most kids in my classes DON'T like the hearts! So most go in the trash, but I digress.)

Because of all these snow days, our 100th day falls on Valentine's Day. I think that's a sign to take some Advil before getting to school tomorrow! We don't do a ton for the 100th day (our kindergarten does), but I am using Old Fart Booth today to take pictures of my kiddos and transform them into their much older selves for a quick writing prompt tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Holy smokes! It's already February! Where does the time go?! Before you know it, it will be March...and then boom! End of the school year! This is right about the time where I start to REALLY feel connected with my kids...the constant reminders relationship building has paid off! It usually takes me until about this point in the school year where I really love my kids. I'd love to be one of those people that say they love them right away, but like most relationships, it takes time for me :) It reminds me of The Bachelor (although I'm not watching this year). We have to go through some fear together ("There's a spider on the wall!!!!"), some happy tears (don't read I'll Love You Forever if you want your kids to see you cry like a baby), some celebration (we made it through another round of MAP testing!!!!) and some successes (another filled marble jar!). My own little formula for classroom love.

The last 2 years, I've made my class individual portraits for Valentine's Day just to show them how much I really do love them. You can download my FREE Valentine Portrait template by clicking below. Please be kind and leave feedback :)

I print off these pages in color, use a thin sharpie to outline the rest of the head, add hair, and any other details that make each kiddo unique. Then, I use colored pencils to fill in. Finally, I scan and email them to myself with our totally awesome xerox machine (love the ability to do that btw). Finally, I color print them on white card stock for durability.

The whole process takes a long time, but I love how personal it is and the smiles I see are completely worth it. If you don't have time to do that this year, or don't feel up to it anyway, can also gives these blank templates to students to fill out for one another!

And in case you don't have a backup for students that didn't bring Valentine's (or you need something to give them from you really quick!)...here's another FREEBIE!

I also created this EDITABLE parent letter FREEBIE (for your class name list).

And my Lovebots were a huge hit with my class this year. Click below to purchase from TpT!

And lastly, here's a few clipart items you might find useful for the big day!

Monday, February 10, 2014

I created this last year but it was so popular I wanted to share it with everyone at Teaching Blog Roundup. Dr. Seuss' Birthday is coming up very soon and I wanted to celebrate by sharing this Math Center with you all. I'm blogging at Teaching Resources for the Classroom now so don't let the blog address on this freebie trick you! I would love for you to come over for a visit.

There is a missing addend match up game with 32 cards and 16 matches, a missing addend worksheet and a two digit addition worksheet for your class celebration! Everything is ready for you. My littles has a blast with this last year and I am looking forward to sharing it with K/1s this year.

You need to print, cut and copy! It is that simple. Get your Cat with a A Hat Activities here!

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

I hope you're all enjoying this busy month of February in school... that is, those of you who've had enough cold-and-snow-free days to have even been in school yet this month!! Pretty crazy winter, isn't it? Here in New Jersey, we've had some wickedly cold days and a few snowfalls, but nothing compared to what so many of you are going through. Our older daughter is vacationing right now in San Diego ... now, those are some people who know how to have a winter!

Well, in spite of the weather, somehow you're just going to have to squeeze in all those celebrations, aren't you? Because February is just plain fun in school!

At the top of the list, of course, (vying for attention with the 100th Day, for those of you celebrating this month!), is the Lovey-Dovey 14th. So when I started to prepare a freebie for you this month which would satisfy the need for lots of hearts and lots of learning at the same time, I came up with using the number 14. I made a set of two games and sprinkled hearts and pinkness all over them.

And then I completely changed my mind. After all, why limit the use to one day, or even one month?

So, here's what I ended up with: I kept it centered on "14", but everything else has changed!

With this free resource, your students will evaluate number models like the ones you see above to determine whether they're less than, equal to, or greater than 14. See? There's that Valentine touch I promised you! :)

If you're a teeny bit disappointed that there are no hearts and cupids on this freebie, here are links to a few much more PINK ones at my blog. Click on any picture to see it, and enjoy! Happy Hearts Day!